History of IEEE-USA: 1973-2009 – An Overview of Four Decades ...

persons familiar with the associated technology. According to Bloomberg News, the decision “may be the most significant
Supreme Court patent decision in two decades, affecting as many as 90 percent of the l.2 million patents now in force.”
Government Fellows Program: Founded in 1973, IEEE-USA’s award winning program currently supports three government
fellowships for qualified IEEE members. The fellows spend a year in Washington serving as advisers to the U.S. Congress and to
key U.S. Department of State decision-makers. Both the Congressional Fellowship and Engineering & Diplomacy Fellowship
link engineers with government, providing a mechanism for the IEEE's U.S. members to learn firsthand about the public policy
process.
Several former IEEE-USA Congressional Fellows have gone on to serve in leading government posts, including: Leonard Weiss,
staff director with former Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio); John Peha, chief technologist with the Federal Communications
Commission; and Peter Winokur, member, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Three IEEE-USA presidents were
Congressional Fellows: LeEarl Bryant, 1993; Russ Lefevre, 2001; and Gordon Day, 2005.
Washington Internship for Students of Engineering (WISE): WISE is a summer internship program in engineering and public
policy. Third and fourth year engineering and computer science students and graduates pursuing policy-related graduate studies
are selected in a nationwide competition to spend nine weeks in Washington, D.C., learning how engineers contribute to publicpolicy
decisions on complex technology issues.
Grassroots Advocacy: Under the leadership of 2001 IEEE-USA President Ned Sauthoff with then Government Relations
Director Chris Brantley, IEEE-USA began a systematic effort to involve IEEE’s U.S. members in “grassroots” advocacy with the
establishment of the Congressional Advocacy Recruitment Effort (CARE). In 2003, the organization hired a full-time grassroots
coordinator, Russ Harrison, who has addressed dozens of local IEEE entities in the last six years. The resulting CARE Network
has grown to 18,000 registered participants who receive IEEE-USA legislative alerts. An associated online Legislative Action
Center enables all U.S. IEEE members to contact their legislative representatives in all 50 states and all congressional districts.
Since 1996, IEEE-USA has also been a lead organizer of the multi-society Science, Engineering and Technology Congressional
Visits Day program. In recent years, IEEE-USA added a Career Fly-In and coordinated Washington visits, in partnership with
the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and the IEEE Photonics Societies.
In 2009, IEEE-USA held its first Energy Fly-in giving U.S. IEEE members an opportunity to meet with congressional staff and
influence the development of energy policy in Washington. As one measure of this effort, IEEE-USA is now coordinating over
250 U.S. IEEE member visits annually with members’ elected officials in Washington and in members’ home districts.
Other current grassroots activities include: the Engineering the Vote voter registration effort, a series of workshops on running
for public office organized in partnership with Scientists and Engineers for America; and a speaker program for IEEE sections
and groups, involving IEEE-USA’s government relations staff and former government fellows.
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